


Once You See It

by Aleanid



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23671432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleanid/pseuds/Aleanid
Summary: When he's asked if Tsukishima is single, Suga answers that yes, he technically is... but not really."Have you ever had two friends and everyone thinks the two are basically dating, except the two of them are completely oblivious?"And that should have been that. But Hinata has no idea who Suga means. Suddenly, Hinata is on a mission.Prequel toI'm the Oblivious Friend
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 61
Kudos: 393





	Once You See It

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note here to point out that I didn't think too long and hard about who might be going on to play pro-volleyball or who might go the college route (and ignored any canon information to that end). Also, I know it doesn't make much sense for all the Sendai guys and Tokyo guys to end up in the same place, or for the lot of them to maintain the exact same circle of friends. But I kept things simple and I just dumped all our boys into (the same) college. Don't question it. ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

The sheet of notes Sugawara has handed him to study may as well be written in an alien language. It makes no sense.

“Don’t worry,” his senpai is saying, sitting on the barstool next to him. Sugawara agreed to help him through this class and they’re currently meeting at a pub popular with university students, working out a tutoring schedule. “I know it looks scary but if you approach it a little bit at a time, you’ll get this.”

Hinata hates math. If it doesn’t apply directly to the things he finds useful, he just can’t bring himself to care. But, apparently, he needs to care. Maybe he should have taken a communications degree, like most of the other players on the volleyball team. Instead, he managed to pick (and by some twist of fate actually get into) a program that requires him to take a few too many math classes for his comfort. Maybe it’s not too late to switch? He’s pondering the thought as a shadow falls across the sheet of God-knows-what in front of him.

“Ah, linear algebra,” a voice breaks him out of his thoughts. “Is anyone taking bets on the likelihood of you passing? I know which outcome I’d wager on.”

He looks up to see a familiar head of blond hair and glasses.

“Shut up, Shittyshima,” he says, sticking his tongue out at his former teammate. “You just wait until you have to take this stupid class. And you should know by now, it’s a bad idea to bet against me.” 

The blond snickers. “In volleyball? Maybe. Also, I already took that class two semesters ago. And it was so easy it nearly bored me to death.”

“Like your being bored is hard,” Hinata mumbles, attention going back to the sheet.

“Are you tutoring him, Sugawara-san? That’s brave,” Tsukishima says, turning his attention away from the redhead. 

“How are your classes going, Tsukishima?” Sugawara deflects with a chuckle. 

“They’re interesting enough,” he says. “Although the TA for my law and anthropology class is driving me up the wall.”

“You’re talking about Kuroo-san,” Sugawara says, eyes flashing with mirth. 

Tsukishima makes an annoyed sound. “Asshole is lording it over me. As if he’s not annoying enough to deal with on a regular basis.”

Before the conversation can go any further, a voice calls from behind the bar: “Order number 91 for Tsukishima.”

“That’s me,” Tsukishima says. “I’ll see you guys around,” he adds, heading to collect his takeout order before leaving the pub with a last wave in their direction. 

“Is he a friend of yours?” a voice asks. 

Hinata swirls in his chair to find a petite, blond girl sitting on his other side. She’s pretty but it’s her barrette that his attention latches on. It’s familiar. And suddenly it clicks into places. 

“Hey!” he says, smile wide. “You’re in my torture class!” 

“If you mean linear algebra, then yes,” she giggles. “But yeah. Any chance that blond guy is single? I’m trying to set my friend up on a blind date and he’s totally her type.” 

Hinata frowns. “Um,” he says. “I mean, last I knew, he was single? Right?” He turns to Sugawara 

Sugawara makes an unintelligible sound he can’t make heads or tails of. The girl turns her attention to his senpai and asks: “You disagree?” 

“Well, Hinata’s not wrong,” Suga chuckles. “As far as I know, Tsukishima technically is single. But I think you’d be wasting your friend’s time if you tried to set them up,” he says. 

“Why’s that?” she asks with a quirk of her head. She’s leaning towards them now, her elbow propped on the counter.

“Well, cause he’s a jerk, right?” Hinata says. 

Sugawara rolls his eyes. “You don’t believe that,” he chides. Hinata shrugs because Sugawara is right and he doesn’t really believe it. Tsukishima is a bit of an acquired taste and the guy does not make it easy to get close to him but, once you can count him as an actual friend? You start to see that a lot of his “jerkiness” is either insecurity or his own bizarre brand of humour. 

“What is it then?” the girl asks. “Is he a bad boyfriend? Does he cheat on his partners or something?” She gets a twinkle in her eye which makes Hinata think she’s not really making any kind of accusations, she’s just enjoying the conversation the way his little sister has been really into all those stupid pre-teen melodramatic tv shows lately. 

“No, nothing like that,” Suga says shaking his head. “Have you ever had two friends and everyone thinks the two are basically dating, except the two of them are completely oblivious? That’s kinda his deal. You might convince him to go on a couple of dates but, ultimately, no one is going to keep him interested because his attention is already firmly fixed elsewhere.” 

“Ah, I see what you mean,” she says, nodding like she’s just understood some great secret. The girl must have been picking up take out too because it’s her turn to have her name called and, just like that, she excuses herself and the conversation is over.

But Hinata is still mulling over Sugawara’s words. 

“Hold on,” he says. “Who is this person everyone thinks Tsukishima is dating?” 

“Ah,” Suga says a little awkwardly, hand going to his neck. “I don’t really want to start any rumours,” he says. 

“But if everyone else already knows!”

“I dunno, Hinata. I’m just guessing, really, and I don’t really want to make you start believing something that might not be true. Not if you haven’t seen it for yourself.” 

“Yeah, but you said everyone knows,” Hinata repeats, a little pouty.

Sugawara clears his throat. “Look, honestly? You probably haven’t seen it cause you haven’t cared to look. All I can say is, if you see it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“So you’re saying, if I want to know who you mean, I have to figure it out myself?” he grumbles. 

“No, I’m saying you should forget I said anything and focus on the more important stuff,” Suga says, tapping the sheet Hinata has all but forgotten. “Like your math midterm.”

—

It’s good advice. But Hinata’s never been the type to let something go once he’s latched on. 

And maybe he wouldn’t have latched on so hard, except there are things about Tsukishima that, now that Sugawara’s brought it to his attention, do make it seem like he’s dating someone.

For one, he often runs into the blond to find him carrying two cups of coffee. He’s barely cared enough to notice the fact before, let alone ask who the second cup was for, but now he has to wonder. And Tsukishima also does this thing when he checks his text messages sometimes where he… Well, not _smiles_ exactly, but he looks happy or something. And then there’s how, sometimes, he checks his watch like he’s waiting for someone or afraid to be late — and, it barely shows, but he does it with a sort of eager anticipation. 

So Suga seems to be onto something. 

He’s deep in thought in the cafeteria, mulling it over yet again, when Tanaka elbows him from the seat next to his. 

“Dude, you’re not eating?” his senpai says, barely intelligible with his mouth full. “You sick or something?”

Hinata grunts. And then decides to see whether, as Suga suggested, everyone does, in fact, know.

“I was talking to Suga-senpai the other day about how Tsukishima is basically already dating someone and everyone knows it except the two of them,” he says.

“It’s kinda funny,” Tanaka cuts in with a snicker. “You’d think two people who are so smart wouldn’t be so dumb.” Then he frowns. “Why is thinking about them bothering you so much that you can’t eat?”

“You mean you know who it is that he’s ‘basically dating’?” Hinata all but howls.

“You mean you _don’t_ know who it is?” Tanaka says, howling as well except with laughter.

“And Suga won’t tell me! He says I’ll know when I see it, or whatever” Hinata says. “Who is it?!” 

“That’s hilarious,” Tanaka says. “I’m not telling you either. Figure it out yourself.”

“Urgh,” Hinata groans. “At least tell me it’s someone I know.”

“It is,” Tanaka confirms. 

“Is it Hitoka-chan?”

“That’s all you’re getting from me!” 

— 

He repeats the experiment with Nishinoya, who also thinks the whole thing is obvious and laughs just about as hard as Tanaka did while refusing to give anything up. Though he does give Hinata the additional clue that it is someone they’ve all known since high school.

—

When he broaches the topic with Ennochita, his senpai appears to have been forewarned that Hinata might come asking and does a good job of keeping mum. 

But when Hinata once again guesses at Tsukishima’s “basically” lover being Hitoka, the brunet frowns. 

“Are you guessing Yachi because she’s one of the only girls we all know from high school?” he asks. 

“Well, it’s not going to be Shimizu-senpai, is it,” Hinata says with an eye-roll and a barely contained ‘duh’. Then he stops, eyes widening. “Oh my God. _Is it_ Shimizu-Senpai?”

Ennochita eyes him out of the corner of his eye.

“Look. I wouldn’t point this out if I didn’t know for a fact that you already know but…” Ennochita starts, his face doing a bit of a scrunching thing like he’s debating whether to actually finish his sentence. “You _do_ remember that Tsukishima isn’t just attracted to girls, right?” 

Ah. Right. That information had come up sometime in the last four years, hadn’t it… It’s a testament to the fact that Hinata truly does not care one way or the other about Tsukishima’s romantic or sexual preferences that he hasn’t remembered that detail until now. 

“Damn it!” 

“You’re not suddenly going to be a dick to Tsukishima now because of his preference, are you?” his senpai asks, face now twisted in concern. 

“Why would I?” Hinata asks, confused enough by the question to be momentarily distracted from his current mystery. 

“I don’t know. You seemed upset about the information…”

“Obviously I’m upset!” Hinata groans. “When it was a girl, that narrowed down the options, didn’t it? Now there’s, what? Like, literally a million people it could be!”

“Ah,” Ennochita says, a grin threatening at the corner of his mouth. “Yes, _literally_ a million. Good luck with that.” 

— 

“It’s Yamaguchi, isn’t it?!” he shouts out the blue, startling Sawamura who’d been studying beside him at the table they’re sharing in the cafe. 

“What about Yamaguchi?” 

“Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. They’re basically dating but they don’t know it, right?” Hinata says, never doubting for a second his ex-captain will follow his train of thought.

“I see,” Sawamura says after a moment with a sage nod, confirming that he has, in fact, managed to catch up to Hinata’s chaotic and random outburst. “Suga did tell me you’ve been a little fixated on what he let slip.”

“So, am I right?” Hinata pries. 

“Overall, it’s not a bad guess,” he’s told, in much the same tone he’d heard a lot in his first year of high school whenever he’d make some kind of volleyball observation that had merit but was missing a couple of details. “They do have a close relationship and Yamaguchi certainly is an important and irreplaceable person in Tsukishima’s life.” 

Hinata puzzles through that statement, eye scrunching tight as he attempts to make sense of it. “But am I right?” he asks again when he fails to find any definitive answer.

“Didn’t Suga tell you that you would know when you know?” 

“Yes. But like… I could guess and be right, right? Like if I knew then I’d know, but until I know my guess could be right without me knowing it was right but it would still be right, right?” 

Sawamura stares at him for a second, probably trying to untangle his sentence. Then he slowly starts to nod again. 

“I suppose. If you throw a bunch of darts in the dark, one of them might hit the bullseye but you won’t know whether it has or hasn’t until you turn on the lights.”

“Exactly!” 

Sawamura smiles. “The problem, here, is that you are trying to throw darts in the first place.” 

Hinata’s face goes blank. Then confused. Then blank again. “I don’t follow.” 

“If someone gives you a bunch of darts to throw, then you are going to start looking around for a target, right?” Hinata nods. “Well, just about anything can be a target, given a chance.” He looks around the room for some examples then starts pointing them out. “That apple, that book, that guy’s head….” 

“Yeah, but if it’s so obvious that everyone knows, then the ‘target’ is clearly a dartboard, right? And it’s like you said, I can’t see it because I’m too dumb or something and it’s like the lights are out.”

Sawamura frowns. “Look it _is_ obvious, but not in the way you’re implying. It’s not like all of us suddenly thought ‘Hey, let’s look around and see if Tsukishima is dating someone we know’ the way you’re doing…” He pauses and shakes his head. “Going back to the dartboard thing, it’s more like… if you walked into a pub a thousand times, then, on the one-thousandth-and-first visit, you looked at a particular stretch of wall and noticed that, hey, there’s a dartboard there! It’s obviously a dartboard, you don’t question that, it’s just that, as it happens, you’ve never noticed it there before.”

“And Yamaguchi is not the dartboard.” 

“No.”

There’s a pause. “But if it’s obvious… Isn’t it more like someone told me there’s a dartboard in the pub and, now that I’m looking around for it, I should be all ‘there it is!’”

Sawamura chuckles. “No, it’s more like your friend told you they found a fun game at the pub and then, when you look around, you find a dartboard, a pool table, a foosball table, a couple of arcade games, a ping pong table, a basketball court set up in the back… It’s not until you walk in one day to see your friend throwing darts like it’s the most fun he’s ever had that you understand which game he meant.”

“I see,” Hinata says, serious like they’re discussing something of grave importance. “So what you’re saying is that, instead of going around asking you guys if my darts are hitting dartboards, I should be following Tsukishima around until I see him playing darts.”

“Exactly!” Sawamura says, elated that he’s made his point. In the next second his face falls. “No, I’m not saying that at all. Do _not_ start following Tsukishima around.” 

“I’ve got to go,” Hinata says, hurrying to stuff his books in his bag. “I think Yamaguchi is just finishing his shift at the bookstore. He can probably give me Tsukishima’s schedule, that should help me spy on him.” 

Sawamura makes a couple of desperate, and ineffective, attempts to deter the redhead before ultimately, and helplessly, watching him rush out of the cafe. 

“Tsukishima is going to kill me.” 

—

“I bet it’s Akaashi-senpai.”

He’s in the library working on his math homework with Kuroo. Sugawara had been busy with a paper and had to cancel their tutoring this week but, luckily, the ex-Nekoma captain had offered to step in for him.

Kuroo follows his gaze across the library “Oh, hey! I didn’t notice Tsukki was in here! Should we join them?”

“No!” Hinata blurts. “I mean, uh, no. Tsukishima gets... annoyed when I study near him if I’m going to talk a lot and... since I need to talk to you to finish this…”

It’s not a lie, exactly. Tsukishima _would_ get annoyed. But the real reason he doesn’t want to sit with him is that he’s on a mission here and he can’t spy properly if Tsukishima knows he’s there. It’s not a coincidence he’s chosen the library to work in today, after all. He knows what days and times Tsukishima usually comes here to study between classes.

“Whatever you say,” Kuroo says with a chuckle.

“But yeah. It could totally be Akaashi, right?” Hinata asks again.

“That he’s sitting with?” Kuroo asks with a confused frown. “Yeah, it-”

“No,” Hinata cuts him off. “The person he’s dating. It’s totally Akaashi-senpai. Right?” 

Kuroo’s eyes widen in surprise. “Dating?” he repeats incredulously. “I didn’t know he was dating someone...” He turns to look back at the blond with a frown and something else in his expression that Hinata can’t quite pinpoint. “How did I miss that…?” he says to himself. 

Hinata lights up, excited to see Suga was wrong and he’s not the only one who didn’t notice. But then his excitement abates when he reconsiders. Maybe when Suga said it was obvious to ‘everyone’ he’d only meant to their old Karasuno teammates. But that doesn’t mean Kuroo can’t help him puzzle this out now. 

“Yeah, Sugawara-senpai says Tsukishima is dating someone and it’s super obvious who it is.”

“And you think it’s Akaashi?” Kuroo turns back to him.

“Well it makes sense, doesn’t it? They’re together a lot. They get along really well. They’re both serious and smart. And look!” He points toward the duo. “Akaashi-senpai keeps talking to him while they study and Tsukishima doesn’t look even a little annoyed! Plus, I swear I’ve heard them call each other by their given names.”

He’s been following Tsukishima all week and, if it’s not Akaashi, he’s not sure who else it could be. The way he sees it, if Tsukishima is so obviously dating this person, then surely they must be around him a lot. And sure, Hinata can’t exactly tail the blond 24/7, but unless this person happens to have a schedule completely the opposite to his own or happens to have been away this week for some reason, then Hinata’s pretty sure what he’s observed is enough to narrow down the shortlist of people Tsukishima hangs out with regularly. 

There’s Yamaguchi, of course, but Sawamura already confirmed it wasn’t him. Besides, now that he’s looking for it, he’s noticed that sometimes the ‘mysterious second cup of coffee’ makes an appearance while he’s with the brunet — so it’s clearly intended for someone different. 

The only other people he’s consistently seen the blond with are Akaashi and Kuroo. Well, and Bokuto, but he’s usually hanging off of one of the other two when he makes an appearance, so Hinata thinks he probably doesn’t count. 

What it comes down to, he figures, is the nature of Tsukishima’s encounters with the remaining two candidates. Whenever he sees Tsukishima with Kuroo, the two are usually arguing and throwing insults at each other. And the only time he’s seen the two alone together, he knows — thanks to Yamaguchi reluctantly and confusedly handing over Tsukishima’s class schedule — that it was right after that class of Tsukishima’s where Kuroo is the TA, so that’s not exactly noteworthy. 

Tsukishima seems to go out of his way to meet up with Akaashi, though. He’s done it several times this week. And there’s something about the way the two are with each other. They don’t say much, as though they don’t need to. As though they just fit and understand each other on some other level. Not to mention that, in the however-many years it’s been since he’s known the blond, he’s pretty sure he’s never seen him be as _nice_ as he is when he’s with Akaashi. 

So that’s got to be it, right? 

“I suppose the two of them together would make sense,” Kuroo mutters, still frowning. “I know they both like each other enough. I just… They never said anything?”

Well obviously, Hinata thinks. It’s like Suga said, they’re the only ones who don’t know.

“So I’m probably right then,” Hinata says, satisfied with the outcome of the situation. 

The only thing is… Well, Suga said he’d _know_ when he saw it. And he’s seen it all week, enough to be pretty sure. But he doesn’t _Know._ You know?

But maybe Suga is just overestimating his _know_ ing abilities a touch. 

“Anyway, about this problem-” he starts, turning back to his homework. But Kuroo cuts him off. 

“Actually, I-,” he clears his throat. “I’m really sorry, Shorty, but I just remembered. I have an assignment due tomorrow that I forgot about and I have to run.”

“Okay?” 

“Um… I’m really sorry,” Kuroo is saying, gathering his computer and his books and shoving them in his bag in a hurry. “If you need help, you can email me and I’ll try to answer. Or, uh… Oh yeah, you know Akaashi is actually really good at math. He’s better than me, really. You may as well go over and see if he’ll help you. He probably will.”

“Uh, sure,” Hinata says. “Thanks for your help with the rest, though. We got through most of it and you’re really good at teaching.”

“Anytime, Shorty,” Kuroo says with a smile. “Just not, uh… now. See ya around.”

And then he’s gone.

—

When Kuroo leaves, he does go ask Akaashi for help. He only has a couple of questions left on the assignment and, anyways, he knows Tsukishima is about to leave for his class. 

By the time he’s done with the math stuff, Bokuto has shown up and has convinced Akaashi to go out for pizza, inviting Hinata along with them. And it’s kind of perfect. Hinata figures his best chance at an answer is going to be from Akaashi himself. He broaches the topic as the trio makes their way to a pizzeria a few blocks away.

“Hey, Akaashi-senpai, can I ask you something?” 

“You can ask,” the brunet says indifferently. “I may not answer. But you can ask.” 

“It’s about Tsukishima.” 

“Ooh, Tsukki,” hoots Bokuto. “What about him?”

“Well, it’s… what do you think of him?” 

Akaashi frowns. “I don’t really understand the question,” he says after a moment. “More like, I don’t really know what you’re expecting me to say. He and I are friends?”

Bokuto’s gaze is going back and forth between Akaashi and Hinata, like he’s also at a loss here. 

“I just mean like… Well, you like him as a friend, right? But would you like… date… him? Maybe?” 

“Akaashi date Tsukki?” Bokuto hoots. “Nah, bro. I mean, sure, Tsukki’s cute in his way and all. But a bro does not do that to another bro, you know what I mean?” 

“Sugawara warned me about this,” Akaashi says with a nod. “Well, not _this_ , exactly. But I think I know why you’re asking.”

“What? What’s _this_ ,” Bokuto asks with interest. “What’s going on here?”

“So you’re not dating him then,” Hinata says. 

“No,” Akaashi answers. “I’m not the person Suga was talking about.”

“Damn.”

“What. Is. Going. On. Here?!” 

“You know how you and I think it’s obvious Kei has a bit of a crush on a certain someone?” Akaashi asks Bokuto.

“A bit,” Bokuto scoffs. “That’s an understatement.” 

“Hinata is trying to figure out who that is.”

“Oh!” Bokuto throws an amused look at the redhead. “And you thought it was Akaashi? Dude, no. Like I said. A bro does not do that to another bro.”

“What do bros not do?” Hinata asks, genuinely confused. 

“Like, if you know your bro is really into someone, you don’t just go and start dating that person. You know?” 

“Sure,” Hinata says. But he’s still confused. “But wait, so you know who Tsukishima’s into then? And who’s into Tsukishima?” he asks. 

“Well, duh?” 

“So who is it?” he asks, a little desperate. 

Akaashi is throwing Bokuto warning looks, telling him not to say anything. Bokuto isn’t paying him attention but it doesn’t matter because he has no intention of revealing anything. 

“Nah, dude. Bros don’t go around telling other bros' secrets, either.”

Akaashi sighs. “What made you think it was me, anyway?” he asks. 

“I dunno,” Hinata says, unsure of everything now. “You two get along really well and he’s weirdly nice to you, and you’re the one Tsukishima meets up with the most, you know?”

“You’ve been following him?” 

“Sorta,” Hinata admits. “I mean, I’m not staking out his apartment or anything. But when we’re both on campus anyway…”

Akaashi nods as though something has just made a lot of sense to him. “Let me ask you something,” he starts. “Can you think of the person who _you_ spend the most time with?” 

“Uh,” Hinata answers. He spends a second going through it in his head. “I mean, Kageyama, I guess. We’re roommates. He’s always just kind of… there.”

“Exactly,” Akaashi says, seeming kind of bored. 

But Hinata is still confused. He’s not too worried about it though — Bokuto looks pretty confused too. 

“Look, you’ve seen us together a lot. That’s because we’re friends and our schedules are similar this semester. But, as an example, I see Kou way more than I see Kei. He shows up at my place all the time for no reason, and yet it’s rare for us to actually meet up at school. We don’t need to. I know where to find him if I need him — which is usually in my apartment eating my food.”

“Hey!” Bokuto protest. “It evens out, you know. I pay for take-out and stuff!” 

“Sure, sure,” Akaashi concedes before turning back to Hinata. “Do you see what I’m saying?” 

“That you’re dating Bokuto-san?” 

“I’m- What? No,” Akaashi says, exasperation now obvious. “Look, Kei and I make plans to meet up for coffee. Or to study. But the person I spend the most time with is _not_ the person I make plans with. It’s the idiot who shows up on my doorstep unannounced. And even then, just because two people spend a lot of time together, it doesn’t mean they’re anything more than friends. So if you’re only looking at how Kei behaves at school, or if you’re trying to assess this numerically...”

“Yeah but, if you’re dating the person, you _are_ trying to make plans with them, right?” Hinata asks. Bokuto and Akaashi look at him like they have no clue what he means. “Like you’d be making excuses to study with them, or get coffee with them. You’d want to meet each other between classes and spend as much time together as you could. Right? So sure, maybe the person shows up at Tsukishima’s place a lot, or something. But they should also be together a lot at school, right? And they’d be like… being all nice to each other and doing special things for each other all the time. Right?”

Surprisingly, it’s Bokuto who speaks up.

“You’ve got it all wrong,” he says. “Maybe you’re right if we’re talking about people who’ve just started dating. But if you're talking about Tsukki? You’ve got to jump several years into the future.”

“Meaning that... they’re doing things old people do? What like… playing bridge or bingo?” 

His response sends Bokuto into a laughing fit. Akaashi’s face says he is _done_ with this conversation.

“No,” Bokuto says once he’s calmed down. “Look, if you’ve been dating someone for a while, you don’t _need_ to be meeting between every class, you know? Sure you like to meet up sometimes, but you can spend the day concentrating on school and meeting with friends instead because you know that, at the end of the day, that person will be waiting for you and will be around when you need them. And when you say ‘doing special things’? I mean sure, a little, sometimes. Except, mostly those ‘special’ things become ‘routine’ things. And, to an outsider, they pretty much seem like ‘nothing’ things.”

“That’s… insightful,” Akaashi says. “If confusing as all hell.” 

“I’m just saying,” Bokuto continues, “you shouldn’t be looking for someone Tsukishima is going out of his way to pay attention to. It’s someone he can’t help but pay attention to. You know? Like, he does it without even thinking about it. And like… most days, if they meet up at school it might be for less than five minutes but, if you’re looking, you’ll see that they’ve paid more attention to each other in those five minutes than they have to anyone else over the course of, you know, a week or even a month.” 

“Sure...,” Hinata says, though he’s not sure he actually gets it. 

“Don’t despair, little man. I’m sure you’ll figure it,” Bokuto says, clapping him on the back so hard he nearly falls over. “But now, it’s time for pizza!” 

With that, Bokuto opens the door to Joe’s and the smell of cheese and tomato sauce takes precedence. 

—

Hinata is not quite sure exactly what Bokuto meant but he’s been trying to piece it together with all the other information he’s found these past couple weeks. He’s still not really coming up with an answer to the Great Tsukishima Mystery.

Except that he kind of gets that what Bokuto told him is exactly what Sugawara told him right at the beginning. And what Sawamura and some others have reiterated, in different words, throughout his investigation. 

Continuing to follow Tsukishima around would be, more or less, a waste of time. To get the answer, what he needs is to witness those ‘five minutes’ Bokuto was talking about. Those five minutes are Tsukishima playing darts. They are the quasi-proverbial ‘once you see it.’ 

He may not be great at math but even he understands that, since he’s been following Tsukishima as much as he could all week and since he can’t predict exactly when those five minutes will happen, continued surveillance won’t necessarily yield any new results. He even gets that he’s probably witnessed these ‘five minutes’ in the past — he must have if it happens enough for _everyone_ to know — he just didn’t take special notice because, as a general rule, he just doesn’t pay that much attention to Tsukishima. Hell, he’s aware that the only reason he cares now is that it’s become some kind of a contest — Christ, even Kageyama is ‘pretty sure’ who it is!

So yes, Hinata is still fixated. But he doesn’t really know where to go from here. 

And that’s what he’s thinking about when someone sits across from him in the cafeteria, their lunch tray jolting him from his thoughts with an aggressive smack.

“You need to stop following me,” Tsukishima says, as he settles down across from him. “I don’t know why you’ve been doing it all week. I don’t _want_ to know why you’ve been doing it. I just want you to stop.”

Hinata blinks at him for a moment before looking away and shoving a few more fries in his mouth. “I haven’t been following you.” 

“Sure,” Tsukishima says. “Same way I’m not wearing glasses right now.” Tsukishima stares him down with a raised eyebrow. “If you want to know something, just ask.” 

“As if you’d answer.”

“I might,” Tsukishima says. “If it’s not a stupid question. Which, I concede, is unlikely.”

Hinata sticks his tongue out before returning his attention to his lunch tray. “You don’t know the answer, anyway,” Hinata mumbles. Tsukishima frowns a little but it’s not clear whether it’s because he didn’t hear or didn’t understand. 

“Whatever. Are you going to stop, then?” Tsukishima pushes.

“I already have,” Hinata pouts. 

Tsukishima aims one of his classic smirks at him, clearly saying that Hinata’s just admitted that he has, in fact, been following him. He doesn’t press the issue, though. “Good,” he says before taking out a book and turning his attention to it instead of Hinata as he begins picking at his lunch. 

And Hinata watches him. Subtly at first but then a little more overtly once he’s convinced Tsukishima won’t notice. He’s not sure what he’s hoping to see — it’s a little like he’s playing a game of ‘spot the difference’ and trying to compare the Tsukishima he’s looking at right now with a pre-’basically dating’ version. Everything about Tsukishima seems the same as it’s ever been. But maybe that’s not surprising. Bokuto seemed to be implying that this ‘basically dating’ has been going on for years and, if it’s someone he knew in high school, he supposes that it might even date back for as long as he’s known the blond in the first place.

He does notice one thing that seems off. His cafeteria tray is a little fuller than he’d expect. You’d need to know the blond’s typical eating habits pretty well to notice but he’s gone to enough training camps with him to be among those few who _will_ notice. There’s a couple of items on there too many. Not so many that it’s completely out of the question that the blond intends to eat it all, but just so many that it would be exceptional. 

“Is there something on my face?” the blond deadpans, eyes never moving away from the page he’s reading. 

“What?” Hinata asks, startling out of his thoughts. 

“You’re staring.” 

“Sorry,” Hinata mumbles and looks away. “Hey. Are you more hungry than usual?” he asks outright. Subtlety was never his thing, anyway.

“Not particularly,” comes from the blond, still not bothering to look at Hinata as he answers.

“Have you been working out a lot lately, or something?” 

Tsukishima does look at him this time. He narrows his eyes and observes him for a moment. “Are you hitting on me?” he asks after a moment. 

“What? How is that hitting on you?!” He asks wide-eyed. Then he freezes. 

Wait. Suga couldn’t have meant _him_ , could he??! He did say that neither of them knows and Hinata _obviously_ doesn’t know, so…. 

Nah. That’s ridiculous. He almost laughs but Tsukishima is still eyeing him. 

“I’m not!” Hinata assures.

Tsukishima grunts, like he’s not convinced. But, now that the shock has worn off, Hinata recognizes the glint in his eye. Tsukishima is messing with him. 

He’s still wondering whether he should press the issue of Tsukishima’s unusual appetite or not when his thoughts are interrupted. 

“There you are!” It’s Kuroo. He’s not exactly out of breath but he also seems to be in a hurry as he places a to-go cup of coffee on the table and starts digging through his bag. “Sorry I’m late, class went long but… Aha! Here’s the book you wanted for your paper.” He stops and takes a look at the title of the book Tsukishima’s just put down. “Oh hey! You’re reading it.” 

Tsukishima peers at him. “Even though most of what you tell me is completely ludicrous, your reading recommendations usually aren’t.” 

“Is that a compliment?” Kuroo says, eyes comically wide with a hand on his heart. “A compliment from the immovable Tsukki. Kill me now, I can die happy.” 

“Mm,” Tsukishima says noncommittally, picking up the book Kuroo just dropped off. “Thanks for this. It’s lucky I noticed you had this in your bookshelf.” 

“Anytime,” Kuroo says. It’s almost exactly like when he’d said the same thing to Hinata, but there’s a little something extra in it too that's making the redhead frown. “Oh, also, this is for you,” he pushes the to-go cup forward. “Caramel macchiato, extra whip, extra caramel, easy on the vanilla. Just how you like it.” 

“Thanks,” Tsukishima says, taking a contented sip. 

“Figured you’d be needing a caffeine hit and you’re such a picky brat about coffee and sweets… You’re lucky I’m nice and ran by the coffee shop you like on my way here. Even if it means I don’t have time to grab lunch before I go to my office hours.” He tacks on the last bit, glancing at his watch. “Speaking of, I gotta run.” 

“Wait. I don’t want to be the reason you missed lunch so…,” Tsukishima takes a moment to consider his tray. “Here, take this. I have plenty of time to grab more if I need.” 

“You’re a lifesaver!” Kuroo says, accepting a sandwich and a pastry. Hinata notes that, now, the amount of food left on Tsukishima’s tray is exactly the amount he’d have expected to be on it in the first place. Then Kuroo frowns at Tsukishima before poking his face. Tsukishima bats the hand away. “Hey, you still not sleeping?” 

“I’m sleeping plenty,” he grumps. Kuroo narrows his eyes. “I am, okay? I had a paper to finish.” 

“You mean a paper to go over for the hundred-thousandth time? I told you, you’re pretty much guaranteed an A in that class. You can relax a little,” Kuroo says, then he rolls his shoulder with a grunt. It’s Tsukishima’s turn to narrow his eyes. 

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who obviously fell asleep on the couch again,” Tsukishima says, poking Kuroo in the stomach hard enough to make the other grunt again. “I keep telling you. Whatever extra grades you’re earning by working yourself ragged, you end up losing them by being in bad shape for the next assignment.” 

Kuroo smirks. “I’d love to keep this argument going but I really do have to run.” 

“Hmm,” Tsukishima says, picking up his book again. “Don’t let me keep you.” 

“You never do,” Kuroo says with a wink and a laugh. “Hey, you’re heading back before me tonight, right? Can you drop this off at my place?” he asks, lifting his gym bag. “It’s a pain bringing it with me to my job.”

“Well, since it's not like it’s out of my way,” Tsukishima says.

“Thanks,” Kuroo says, dropping the bag by the blond.

Tsukishima looks at the bag contemplatively for a moment before opening the front pocket and dipping his hand inside. “Hold on,” he says, halting Kuroo who’s already turned to leave, “you might want to take this with you,” he adds, smug. 

He holds up Kuroo’s wallet. 

“Shit,” Kuroo laughs. “I always do that.” He grabs the wallet and then moves away from them with one last wave. “I’ll catch you later.”

“If I feel like it,” Tsukishima says. 

Then Kuroo is gone. And Hinata is leaning back in his chair with a huge grin. 

—

“You look happy,” Sugawara says when Hinata meets up with him later. 

“I know who it is,” Hinata tells him.

Sugawara eyes him a moment, resigned. “Go ahead and ask me if you’re right. I hear you’ve been making the rounds.” 

“Don’t need to. It’s like you said. Once I saw it, I knew,” Hinata says, his smile getting wider. “I’ve got this. 100%.” 

Sugawara eyes him a second longer. “Good,” he says at last with a smile. “Now let’s get you feeling the same way about linear algebra.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments, I love to know what you guys thought! 
> 
> Want to read the sequel? Check out [I'm the Oblivious Friend](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24786016)
> 
> And now for a less-quick note ;) It's been a long while since my last story. That's not because I'm not writing, it's because I have a bunch of stories in progress, none of which are anywhere near enough to completion to publish. In a bid to help me prioritize and maybe wrap some of them up, I thought I'd take a second to list the premise of some of those stories-in-progress here. If there's one in particular you'd want to read, let me know! It might be the encouragement I need to finish it.
> 
> Kuroo/Tsukishima - College/End-of-3rd Year AU, pretend relationship to real relationship. "To deter a stubborn and clingy girl, Kuroo lies about having a boyfriend. Eventually, the lie catches up to him and he ropes in Tsukishima to play the part for an evening. Not everything goes to plan."
> 
> Kuroo/Tsukishima (although, the story has a life of its own and keeps trying to turn into an Oikawa/Tsukishima and I'm thinking I might let it) - 2nd-Year-AU. "In the middle of his 2nd year, someone from Seijoh takes a pranking war too far and outs Tsukishima, not only to his teammates but to teams across Miyagi. The news even makes it out to the teams they're affiliated with in Tokyo."
> 
> Kuroo/Tsukishima (and a number of other pairings) - College AU, Queer Volleyball Team AU. A number of short, slice of life, stories where the Karasuno and Nekoma teams are reimagined as recreational LGBTQ+ teams.
> 
> Kuroo/Tsukishima - Powers AU, ABO Dynamics, Vampires, Supernatural Creatures. "Tsukishima doesn't wear glasses because of his eyesight. It's a lot more complicated than that. But the gist of it is that his gaze has a number of undesired effects. Among them? Sending Weres and Vamps into a mating frenzy. A mishap at training camp makes his power known. It's all handled quickly. Except... Kuroo's reaction to it is unusual and the effects last longer than they should."
> 
> Oikawa/Tsukishima, Kuroo/Tsukishima, Kuroo/Oikawa/Tsukishima - College AU, ABO Dynamics, Smut basically... "Oikawa is an omega resigned to never finding love. Tsukishima is an omega terrified of being loved. And Kuroo is an alpha terrified to love. Can the three of them find some balance in dysfunction and let themselves be happy?"
> 
> I'll leave it at that. Let me know if anything tickles your fancy! 
> 
> Thanks again for reading. :)


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